Whirlybird:
Helicopters - tremendous fun to fly, great flexibility of landing places both normally and in an emergency (weather bad, land and have a cup of tea, then carry on),
Although what you describe sounds like good fun indeed, this sort of flying is one of the biggest contributors to accidents in the private helicopter flying. How "bad" does weather have to get before a pilot gives up and has a cup of tea? Often it all ends in a smoking hole when a non instrument trained pilot enters cloud "inadvertently".
At the next place I hired/hourbuilt from the rules were similar, and as I had a little more experience by then they were happy to let me land off airfield almost anywhere I liked. The front lawn of a stately home converted into flats was probably the most fun!
Although some training on landing in confined areas is given during basic training, how many private pilots still remember the golden rules of checking the area out before landing. This includes taking into account the strength and direction of the wind and the likelihood of turbulence in the chosen area. Landing reasonably close to a large structure (e.g. the front lawn of a stately home) might mean that the airflow across the landing area is blanked by the structure. This could make a big difference to your day if you are heavily laden........
in the unlikely event of engine failure
Does anybody out there know the reliability of the R22 engine?? Not sure if I would go as far as saying that it is unlikely to fail.